Shoe upper fastening device

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for automatically moving a shoe fastening device along the shank of a shoe bottom about axes extending widthwise, lengthwise and heightwise of the shoe bottom to follow the complex shape of the shoe bottom along the shank area and maintain the device in proper fastener driving orientation.

United States Patent 1 [111 3,894,670 Giebel July 15, 1975 [54] SHOE UPPER FASTENING DEVICE I.695.56l t2/l928 Pym 227/110 X [75] Inventor: Gerhard Giebel, Neuenhain, Tabus,

Germany Primary ExaminerGranville Y. Custer, Jr. [731 Assrgnee: USM Corporatlon, Boston. Mass. Anorm).v Agent or Firm Dna|d Halgren; 2 Filed; Man 25 197 Vincent A. White; Richard B. Megley [21] Appl, No.: 454,385

{30} Foreign Application Priority Data [57} ABSTRACT Apr. 2, 1973 Germany .4 2316335 [52] us Cl H 227/6; 227/110 Apparatus for automatically moving a shoe fastening [51] In. C N B2" 7/02 device along the shank of a shoe bottom about axes Field of Search I I 227 5 6 '7 64,! BXIfilldlflg WldthWiSC, lengthwise and heightwise 0f lh 227/ 99 I00. 1 10 H 1 shoe bottom to follow the complex shape of the shoe bottom along the shank area and maintain the device [56] References Cited in proper fastener driving orientation.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 1394.806 lO/l92l Blake 227/ 7 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures SHOE UPPER FASTENING DEVICE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention concerns a device for driving fasteners such as tacks in the shank area of shoe bottoms. With known devices for this purpose the shoe is usually held under a stationary driving device by an operator and guided by hand in such a way that fasteners are driven in the shoe bottom along the lasting margin. Such devices are commonly activated by a foot switch with which both single fasteners or a series of fasteners may be driven.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A general object of the invention is to avoid problems usually encountered with hand operated devices by providing a relatively simple apparatus for guiding the fastener driving device automatically in relation to a shoe held in a shoe machine. According to the invention, the driving device is mounted to swing heightwise of the shoe on the end of an arm to follow the heightwise curvature of the shoe bottom from the heel seat into the shank area. The arm also is arranged to swing bodily widthwise so the device generally follows the contour of the shank area up to the ball zone of the shoe bottom. The arm also itself swings heightwise to follow the heightwise slope of the shank from the heel seat to the ball zone. By the manifold capability of movement, the toeward advance of the fastener driving device can follow the particularly complex shape of the shoe bottom in the shank area.

In order to conform the various swinging movements of the driving device to different shapes of mens and ladies shoes in respect of the contour of the shoe bottom especially in the inside shank area, the entire mounting for the device is capable of adjustment in an are substantially about the starting point of the fastener driving device adjacent the heel seat of the shoe. In this way it is possible to adapt the lengthwise movement of the driving device to the shape of a wide variety of shoesv This adjustment becomes more necessary when setting the machine to operate on right shoes or left shoes alternately. By means of a telescopic construe tion of the arm on which the driving device is mounted an adjustment for different shoe widths can also be achieved.

With the device according to the invention, arrival of the device at the end of the shank area at the sharp curve into the ball zone, causes the operation of the driving device to stop. For this purpose, a sensor is associated in advance of the driving device to engage the shoe bottom. At the end of the shank, the sensor as a result of the relatively sharp curve of the ball lifts from the shoe bottom and provides a control signal for stopping the machine. Another sensor also is provided on a stop which engages a stop pin during the initial rotation of the device at the curve between the heel seat and the shank to provide a control signal to initiate the lengthwise swinging movement of the device toewardly along a path which generally follows the widthwise contour of the shoe.

In order to ensure that the lasting margin is pulled sufficiently widthwise over the edge of the shoe bottom when the fasteners are driven, tensioning roller with helical lands can be provided ahead of the driving device. This tensioning roller ensures that immediately before the driving of the fasteners sufficient inward tension is always being experted upon the lasting margin.

To process a shoe from both sides at the same time similar driving devices with the controls and movements described above can be provided at opposite sides of the shoe to operate simultaneously on both the inside and the outside of the shoe. The device according to the invention could also be associated with a heelseat lasting apparatus, so that both the heelseat and shank lasting could be carried out with one machine.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. la and lb are partial plan views of a machine embodying the invention and showing a driving device progressively operating on a shoe;

FIG. 2 shows the device in end elevation;

FIGS. 3a, 3b and 3c, are progressive views in side elevation with parts omitted for clarity showing the driving device in three different work positions along the shank area of a shoe;

FIG. 4 is a side elvation partly in section and in enlarged scale showing the operation of a sensor for stopping operation of the driving device at the end of the shank area; and

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the machine showing more completely the two driving devices each of which is arranged to operate at opposite sides of a shoe.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIGS. Ia and lb show an inverted shoe last 1, around the upper side of which a lasting margin 2 of a shoe upper is turned. The last with the upper may be held in the machine in any well known way. Representation of a shoe support is not shown as it is not essential to an understanding of the present invention. An arrangement of tack (or other fastener) driving devices 3 and 4 face each side of the lasting margin 2, so as to be able to drive fasteners individually into the lasting margin 2 in a well known way. The fastener driving devices 3 and 4 are thus used here as commonly known components and will not be treated in detail.

The fastener driving device 3 is rotatably mounted on a plate 5 which is secured on the end of an arm 6. The arm 6 is mounted to swing in two directions, first heightwise directly about a pin 7 (FIG. 2), and second with the pin 7 bodily lengthwise about an axis 8 (FIGS. Ia, 1b). Both arm 6 and the driving device 3 can thereby be swung heightwise of the shoe bottom about pin 7 and can also be swung lengthwise of the shoe about the axis 8. Finally, there also exists the rotation of the driving device 3 in relation to the plate 5 about an axis 9 (FIGS. 3a, 3b, 3c) so an extensive capacity for movement can be imparted to the driving device to follow the complex shape of the margin of the shoe bottom at the shank area.

It will now be explained how the movements of the driving device 3 occur in relation to the especially complicated shape in the shank area of a shoe. In FIGS. 30. 3b and 3c. three work positions of the driving device 3 in proper driving orientation to the shoe bottom are shown. In FIG. 3a, the driving device 3 is in its starting position on the lasting margin 2 at a point where the heelseat zone ends and the waist area begins. The de vice 3 is shown in the same work position in FIG. la. The driving device 3 is first moved from that position by rotating on pin 9 in relation to the plate 5. In this rotation, the driving device 3 is securely supported on pin 9 and is disposed against a surface of plate 5. The work position at the end of this rotary movement of the driving device is shown in FIG. 3b at the approximate beginning of the heightwise slope of the shank of the shoe bottom. As can be seen, the shoe bottom in the rotation zone of the driving device 3 has a shape generally corresponding to such rotary movement. From the work position shown in FIG. 3b the last bottom then runs in a substantially straight line along the heightwise slope of the shoe bottom toward the ball zone of the shoe. There is also a change in the shoe width along the shank which is particularly pronounced on the inside of the shoe. From the position shown in FIG. 3b, the driving device 3 is swung bodily lengthwise to the work position at approximately the ball point as shown in FIGS. 3c and lb, by turning about the axis 8. During this swinging movement along the shoe bottom, the arm 6 simultaneously yields heightwise about pin 7, to follow the heightwise slope of the shoe as a nozzle 10 of the device slides along the lasting margin 2.

In total, there occurs a sequence of movements in which first the driving device 3 alone is rotated (see transition from FIG. 3a to FIG. 3b). The driving device 3 with the arm 6 then swings bodily lengthwise about the axis 8 (see transition from FIG. In to FIG. lb) whereby in addition, due to the rocker-like movement of the arm 6 about pin 7 (FIG. 2) it yields to follow the complex heightwise and widthwise contours of the shoe bottom. To produce this sequence of movements, various piston-cylinder units are provided. For the rotation of the driving device about the pin 9, a piston-cylinder unit 11 (FIGS. 30-30) is mounted at one end on the plate 5 by the pin 12 and at the other end is connected to the upper end of the driving device 3 by a piston rod 13. When the piston rod 13 travels out the driving device is swung about the pin 9 from the position seen in FIG. 3a to that seen in FIG. 3b. For the swinging movement of the arm 6 about the axis 8, a piston-cylinder unit 14, and a connecting rod 17, (FIGS. la and lb) are mounted on a slide 15 and at the other end is secured to a carrier 16 pivoted on its pin 8. With the drawing-in of piston rod 17 to the piston-cylinder unit 14, the carrier 16 is swung about the axis 8, also swinging the arm 6 and driving unit bodily from the position seen in FIG. la to that seen in FIG. lb. So that the driving device 3 always rests on the lasting margin 2 with sufficient pressure, a piston-cylinder unit 18 (FIG. 2) with its piston rod 19 operates against the end of arm 6 remote from the driving device 3. An upward pressure exerted by the piston rod 19 is sufficient to press the driving device 3 against the lasting margin 2. This pressure is so adjusted that it is light enough to yield like a spring, and this enables the driving device to yield upward as it is moved toewardly along the slope of the shoe bottom. The piston-cylinder unit 18 also operates at the end of the operation to raise the driving device 3 from the shoe last 1. To this end, the piston rod 19 is caused to travel in by reversing the action of the pressure fluid. While in the raised position, the driving device 3, may then be guided back to the starting position.

The carrier 16 is provided with a lug 20 which is pivotally mounted on the pin 8. The carrier 16 also has upstanding lugs 21 (FIGS. la and 2) which carry the arm 6 and the pin 7. Two brackets 22 extend from the lugs 21 and between them, the piston-cylinder unit 18 is suspended. Thus, with the displacement of the piston rod 17, the carrier 16 with its lug 20, the lugs 21 and brackets 22 swing, together with the arm 6, about the axis 8. In order to adjustably vary the location of the lengthwise swinging path of the driving device 3 in an orientation that is suitable for the shoe being operated on, the slide 15 has depending rollers 23 which ride in a curved slot 24 in a bracket 25 which also supports the slide 15. Adjustment of the slide 15 along the slot, causes an arcuate movement of the axis 8 bodily about point 26 (FIGS. la and 5) which generally coincides with the starting point of the driving device 3 in relation to the shoe at the start of the machine operation. If the slide 15 is adjusted down (in reference to FIG. la), the axis 8 likewise moves down, so the axis 8 and the point 26 moves closer to the center line of the shoe to suit a shoe that may be especially narrow in the shank. If, on the other hand, the shoe is one that is wide in the shank, the slide 15 would be adjusted up (in reference to FIG. 10), whereby the axis 8 rotates about the point 26 into such a position that with the swinging movement of the driving device 3 the latter moves only little toward the center line of the shoe. For the adjusting movement of the slide 15, a piston-cylinder unit 30 (FIG. la) is secured at one end on the bracket 25 and at the other end, through a piston rod 31, is connected to the slide 15. In order to be able to further accommodate different widths of shoes, the arm 6 as seen in FIG. 1a has a length adjustment of telescopic design consisting of a tube 27 and pin 28. These parts fit one inside the other, and can be kept in their particular position by an adjusting screw 29. From FIG. 2 it can be seen that the driving device 3 is inclined outward with the plate 5 so that the device 3 in a suitable driving orientation on the lasting margin 2 which, as shown, curves across the shoe bottom.

FIGS. 3a, 3b. 3c, show various progressive movements of the driving device 3 which proceed automatically. To this end, the driving device is provided with a stop 32, capable of limited movement when it engages one of an arrangement of three selective stops 33, 34 or 35 to operate a control device such as a mi cro-switch (only a pusher 36 of the switch being shown). Upon movement of the stop 32, the pusher 36 is activated to trip the switch which causes actuation of the piston-cylinder unit 14 to swing the device lengthwise about pin 8. The stop 32 is so constructed that it swings back under springpressure into its rest position as represented in FIG. 3a when it is disengaged from the stops 33, 34 and 35. In order to provide the rotation of the driving device 3 with a defined limit angle, the stops 33, 34 and 35, already mentioned above, are provided. These stops consist of pins which protrude out of corresponding holes in the plate, and which can be drawn in or out as selected so that these stops offer three end positions for the driving device 3. For the smallest rotation-angle, the stop 35 is drawn out; for the greatest rotation angle stop 33. In order to adjust the lengthwise swinging attitude of the driving device 3, stops 37 (FIGS. 1a and 1b) are provided to limit the displacement of the slide 15 by engagement with a for ward edge 48 of the slide 15. The further the slide 15 can be pushed forward by activation of the relevant stops 37, the more swinging movement there is by the driving device 3 toward the center line of the shoe last 1. The slide 15 may also be located in another defined position, governed by engagement against an adjusting screw 38 depending on which end of the pistoncylinder unit 30 is pressurized. These two opposite positions may be selected alternately for the processing of either a right or a left shoe. According to whether the driving device is facing the inner or the outer side of a shoe (left or right shoe), the slide 15 must be displaced correspondingly (see also FIG. 5). Processing of the inner side of a shoe requires positioning of slide 15 in which the latter is located farther away by the adjusting screw 38 than it is for the processing of the outer side of a shoe. It might, however, be pointed out that there are fashionable shapes of shoes for which the slide 15 may be adjusted in the opposite way.

FIG. 4 illustrates how the machine can be stopped at the end of a cycle by making use of the curvature of the shoe at the ball point. For this purpose a sensor 39 is associated ahead of the nozzle of the driving device 3. The sensor 39 is mounted on one arm ofa bell crank and rests on the shoe bottom. Another arm 40 of the bell crank is arranged to engage a piston 42. When the nozzle 10 is located directly before the ball point 41 of the shoe last 1 (see FIGS. 4 and 3c), the sensor 39 rides off the shoe bottom and swings away from the driving device 3. The sensor 39 signals by this movement the end of the processing operation. The pressing of the sensor 39 upon the lasting margin 2, as well as its movement after reaching the ball point 41, arises from its association with a control mechanism mentioned above, which includes the piston 42 upon which a pressure is being exerted through a cylinder 43 (FIG. 4), preferably by means of compressed air. Under the effect of this pressure, the sensor 39 is pressed against the lasting margin 2.

When the sensor 39 can swing away after passing the ball point 41, the piston 42 pushes the end of the lever 40 away, whereupon the piston 42 exposes an exhaust duct 44 so that a fluid such as compressed air can pass through the cylinder cavity 43. The supplying of compressed air to the exhaust duct 44 may then be used as a signal to stop the operation of the device. This stop process can also be used to cause a return movement of the device to its starting position. With the assumption of the starting position the sensor 39 is also returned into a position in which the piston 42 closes the exhaust duct 44.

It can now be appropriate, before the driving of the fasteners by the driving device 3, to give the lasting margin 2 a further tensioning inward, for which purpose a known tensioning roller such as with helical lands can be used. It is within the scope of the invention to use the sensor 39 as such a tensioning roller, whereby the mounting of such a roller would assume at the same time the above described control tasks of the sensor 39 with the lever arm 40. The drive for such a tensioning roller could be effected easily, for example, through gear wheels or belts which could be arranged on the left of the lever component 45.

In FIG. 5 a complete machine is shown in which the shank area of a shoe can be provided with fasteners from both sides at the same time. To this end, the above described device is duplicated at opposite sides. This possibility can in itself be gathered from FIGS. 1 and 2 in which the left-hand unit has merely been omitted. The explanations given above are equally applicable to explain the function of the left-hand unit. In the machine represented in FIG. 5 the driving devices 3 and 4 run simultaneously, so that both sides of a shoe can be completed simultaneously. It is also shown in FIG. 5 (and likewise in FIG. la) that the fastening devices can be combined with a heelseat lasting device, which here consists of an arrangement of heelseat lasting wipers 46 and 47. Such a heelseat lasting device is already well known. However, it can be seen from the representation in FIG. 5 that the heelseat lasting device with its wipers 46 and 47 can be combined with the fastener driving devices 3 and 4 without spatial disturbance of the latter and their controls.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for moving a fastening device automatically along the shank area of a shoe bottom including a device for driving fasteners; first means for swinging the device about an axis extending generally widthwise of the shoe to orient the device in a proper driving relation to the varying slope of the shoe bottom progressing along the heightwise curvature from the heel seat area of the shoe bottom to the shank area; second means for bodily swinging the first means about a heightwise extending axis bodily lengthwise of the shoe along the shank area toward the ball zone while the device is maintained properly oriented; and means mounting the first means for yielding heightwise swinging movement about an axis extending generally lengthwise of the shoe for causing the device to follow the heightwise slope of the shank area as the device is moved lengthwise.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the heightwise extending axis is movable bodily lengthwise of the shoe in an arc about the starting point of the device for varying the orientation of the lengthwise swinging movement relative to the shoe to suit various shoe shapes.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the means mounting the device for yielding movement includes a lever, the length of one arm of which can be varied to adjust the device for operation on shoes of different widths.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the extent of the swinging movement of the device about the widthwise extending axis is determined by a member engageable with one of a plurality of selectable stops, and engagement between the member and the selected stop initiates the lengthwise swinging movement of the device.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which means is provided to detect arrival of the device at the ball line of the shoe bottom for stopping the lengthwise swinging movement of the device.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5 in which the detecting means includes a sensor engaging the shoe bottom until the arrival at the sharp down curvature at the ball line of the shoe bottom.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 in which the detecting means also comprises a tensioning roller for drawing the shoe upper margin inwardly over the shoe bottom as it progresses along the shank area. 

1. Apparatus for moving a fastening device automatically along the shank area of a shoe bottom including a device for driving fasteners; first means for swinging the device about an axis extending generally widthwise of the shoe to orient the device in a proper driving relation to the varying slope of the shoe bottom progressing along the heightwise curvature from the heel seat area of the shoe bottom to the shank area; second means for bodily swinging the first means about a heightwise extending axis bodily lengthwise of the shoe along the shank area toward the ball zone while the device is maintained properly oriented; and means mounting the first means for yielding heightwise swinging movement about an axis extending generally lengthwise of the shoe for causing the device to follow the heightwise slope of the shank area as the device is moved lengthwise.
 2. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the heightwise extending axis is movable bodily lengthwise of the shoe in an aRc about the starting point of the device for varying the orientation of the lengthwise swinging movement relative to the shoe to suit various shoe shapes.
 3. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the means mounting the device for yielding movement includes a lever, the length of one arm of which can be varied to adjust the device for operation on shoes of different widths.
 4. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the extent of the swinging movement of the device about the widthwise extending axis is determined by a member engageable with one of a plurality of selectable stops, and engagement between the member and the selected stop initiates the lengthwise swinging movement of the device.
 5. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which means is provided to detect arrival of the device at the ball line of the shoe bottom for stopping the lengthwise swinging movement of the device.
 6. Apparatus according to claim 5 in which the detecting means includes a sensor engaging the shoe bottom until the arrival at the sharp down curvature at the ball line of the shoe bottom.
 7. Apparatus according to claim 6 in which the detecting means also comprises a tensioning roller for drawing the shoe upper margin inwardly over the shoe bottom as it progresses along the shank area. 